How to gain responsibility, build your brand, and tackle challenges in your first year at a new job

Learn how to create a strong impression in your first 6 months of a job and how to tackle key challenges

Target Audience: New graduates who have recently started a job         

1. Gaining your trust and building credibility??
2. Challenges and advice of starting a new job
3. Handling fast-paced environments
4. Adjusting to varied management styles
5. Creating your brand and finding your interests?
6. Next steps to continue to excel?
7. Article pipeline & contact information

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Gaining your trust and building credibility:?

• I started my job at Deloitte Consulting in NYC after graduating from Lehigh University (‘21) last year and have been able to face the fears of a new job, add value to my project teams, and learn to build my brand all within my first year.
• I have recently gone through the challenges of a new job, and I’m hoping to ease the process of starting a new job for you.?
• In this article, I will speak through my experiences over the last year at Deloitte, outlining how I adjusted to the challenges of consulting and the transition from college to the working world.?
• Some of the challenges included are (1) dealing with fast-paced environments, (2) handling varied management styles, and (3) finding your interests & building your brand

Starting a new job is hard:?

• Starting a new job, especially if it's your first job out of school, can be HARD. In my first few months, I felt overwhelmed by the fast pace of consulting, the constant change in management/teams, and the struggle to align my work with my interests and provide value to my teams.?

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Handling fast-paced environments through staying organized, setting expectations, and asking for help

Challenges:?

• Transitioning to or starting a new job (especially out of undergrad) can be difficult and intimidating. A fast-paced environment can be uncomfortable, for example, as a new consultant I struggled with keeping up with all the tasks that came my way and prioritizing them appropriately
• You may feel overwhelmed, confused, and lost, which can be a great time to ask your teammates for help and see how they handle the environment?
• In fast-paced environments (in which many projects and tasks may be thrown your way quickly), you need to find a way to stay organized, set expectations/goals, and ask for help??
• During the first few weeks of my job, I was immediately thrown into a very fast-paced environment, and I struggled to stay organized with all the tasks, set expectations with my manager, and ask for guidance when needed

How to handle fast-paced environments:

• I learned how to adapt to my fast-paced environment by staying organized through writing comprehensive to-do lists by category, owner, timeline & priority
• Additionally, setting expectations with my manager on what was needed from me was crucial
• Learning how to prioritize all your tasks can be done through (1) Understanding the time commitment and timeline of each task, (2) Aligning expectations with your manager, and (3) Asking questions when you need guidance?
• It takes time to understand how long a task may take and understand the importance of that task relative to your other tasks. If unsure, always ask your manager or teammate to ensure you working on the right task and prioritizing as needed
• Taking the initiative to be proactive in a fast-paced environment can be extremely beneficial. Many times your manager may not have time to answer all your questions, so over time, it's important to anticipate what your manager may recommend you do and come up with multiple options when you meet. People prefer to be able to give feedback on something vs. asking about an idea that they can't visualize. If you already have a work product to ask specific questions about, the feedback will be more specific and helpful.
• A tactic I've used is to anticipate and plan work product reviews during the day, and proactively set up these meetings to answer some key questions, and attempt to live edit in the meeting so the leader can really visualize the changes they are asking for.
• At times, managers may ask for one thing but visualize another, and walking them through that process as quickly as possible, can lead to fewer problems down the road and increase alignment
• Many new/young employees don't clarify asks (e.g., timeline, expectations, etc.) from their managers and fear asking for help/guidance when needed, leading to misaligned expectations and potentially hours of work in the wrong direction.?

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Adjust to new management styles through managing up and constant (re)-learning?

Challenge:?

• In new jobs, and especially in consulting, you have to constantly adjust to new management styles and teams. I have worked with 10+ different teams and managers in less than one year in consulting.?
• Each manager has a different style of communication, different expectations, and different criteria for what is considered ‘good’. This is to be expected as every person and manager is different and their styles will vary.?
• This constant change in teams (every 6-10 weeks) was a big challenge for me in the first 6 months of my role. I struggled with managing new managers' expectations and exemplifying their criteria for what ‘good’ looks like
• As a recent graduate, you need to learn to adjust to new manager styles and learn to develop your own at the same time.?

How to adjust to new management styles:

• Each time I join a new team, I focus on (1) Understanding my manager’s expectations, (2) Setting up bi-weekly check-ins for two-sided feedback, (3) Asking for a work product that they consider excellent to understand their style, and (4) voicing my strengths/weaknesses and which areas I want to improve and grow while on the team.?
• These tactics set me up (and will set you up) for success when learning a new managers style and acclimating to a new team?
• When adjusting to a new manager's style, it is important to understand what they think "good looks like". Therefore, always ask for them to send you a former work product that they deem excellent. This will help you frame the deliverable exactly how they like it, and give you time to acclimate to their style.
• It can also be useful (if possible), to reach out to people that have worked with this manager before, especially if you are struggling to work with them, to ask for advice and what they learned while working with them.
• Figuring out the manager's style in the first few weeks of working with them is ideal to help you excel in the role later on
• A valuable lesson to learn when managing up (‘managing your manager’) is to always understand what questions you have for your manager and display those questions succinctly for them to easily digest
• For example, one way to easily manage up is to outline the key questions and takeaways you have for your manager and send them ahead of time. Then in the meeting, go through each 1 by 1 with a clear ask in mind
• Keep in mind if you like working with this manager, and if you would want to continue to work with them if you have a choice. Each manager's style is different and learning what your style is and whom you connect with the best is equally important.

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Create your brand and find your interests?

Challenge:?

• It can be challenging to create your brand and find your interests as you start a new job
• Building your brand entails providing exemplary value in an area that people start to associate you with that area (e.g., demonstrating strong digital marketing skills will make people recognize you as a digital marketing expert & task you with those projects)
• I continue to struggle with finding my brand and exploring my interests
• I find it especially tough as creating my brand may position me on a narrowed path towards expertise in one topic, while exploring my interests may inversely broaden my scope of work. This can be a difficult challenge to confront in a new job
• As a consultant, I have the luxury to somewhat easily explore my many interests (e.g., technology, media, retail, strategy, marketing, product, etc.).
• However, this still comes with the challenge that sticking with one team and one focus area may advance your career more quickly. You may be able to develop closer relationships with that team and slowly gain more responsibility in that area
• Nevertheless, building your brand and gaining varied experiences to explore your interests early in your career is important. Building your brand can help people understand your value as a young professional.?

How to create your brand:

• Leveraging your strengths can be a great way to start building your brand. For example, if you are strong in financial modeling, you can start to share those strengths and quickly become an asset to any team
• In addition, these strengths can be soft skills. I am a very detailed person, and I have tried my best to capitalize on that strength and be extremely thorough with all my tasks. Therefore, many team members I have worked with recognize me as a thorough proactive worker.?
• I have continued to pursue my interests and create my brand. To create your brand, it is important to explore your different interests, speak with people that are doing what you want to do, and get a taste of what that work is like
• Prioritize internal networking with professionals that are aligned with your interests and speak with people that have built a strong brand at your firm. These conversations will help you understand how to pursue your interests at your firm, and what skills others had to build a strong brand
• These conversations will help determine what you want to be known for and what strengths you want to highlight with your work. Determine these strengths and how to leverage them in your work to provide value and gain responsibility.

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Over the Hump: Next steps to continue to excel??

• In this article, I discussed my experiences and advice on dealing with some of the challenges of starting a new job, such as handling fast-paced environments, adjusting to different management styles, creating your own brand, and catering to your interests from the start. I have worked as a consultant for 1 year and have learned how to tackle some of these challenges.

Continue to excel by reaching for new responsibilities, being proactive, and working on your weaknesses?

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Article pipeline?

• Resume guide: resume tips & tricks: an in-depth guide for ensuring your resume gets you the interview?
• Why read: I’ve reviewed 50+ resumes resulting in many candidate interviews/job offers?

• LinkedIn optimization guide: How to optimize your LinkedIn?- ensuring recruiters reach out to you DAILY
• Why read: I optimized my LinkedIn profile and 20+ recruiters reach out to me weekly vs. 0 previously

• Switching jobs tutorial: How to switch jobs as an experienced hire?(Tips on finding and switching to a new job that fits your strengths and interests better than your current one)

Previous articles: [Learn to network, interview, and land a job with these tips]?

• How to get an internship / full-time job as a college student (June 2021)
• How to setup and conduct a great informational interview (June 2021)
• How to Apply and Ace Consulting Interviews (July 2021)?
• How to excel in a Behavioral interview (July 2021)
• How to build a strong network (July 2021)

Contact:?

• Contact me with any questions, comments, or thoughts on the article at [email protected] or LinkedIn DM?
• I would love to hear people’s thoughts on the article and any additional questions or topics that you would want to learn more about
• Sign up for my newsletter here for more actionable insights on consulting, resumes, networking interviewing, and transitioning careers.